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In these troubled times

Don’t you love to get unexpected letters? They come to me mostly by email now, and always still spreading Hope and Love, and always with a little Mystery. And now, I give you two stories, one from Sweden and the other from Germany of long ago, for in these troubled times it is wise to remember that we are surrounded by angels. Two angels accompany you from the moment you are born, your special companions, and in times of peril they can call a cavalry of angels to your aid. The question is — Who will see them in disguise? Who will hear them when they speak? Here is the first story:

Dear Sophy Burnham,

Being a refuge war baby in Germany, I know of angels from very early on. At age 4 or 5, I fell out of my crib. My left arm swelled up so my mother took me to the hospital. I stayed in the hospital for 18 weeks before they sent me home, saying I am going to die of bone cancer. This was in 1948/49. At home I had a cast on my left arm to keep my collarbone elevated.

One day a lady knocked at our one room where my mother and I lived in Schoellang, Germany. She wore a black coat. She had black hair with a pony-cut [bangs] across her forehead, and a slight mustachio. She said her name was Ms. Fischer, and she urged my mother to take me to a pediatrician doctor in Sonthofen, Germany. She looked at me, and I felt funny. I still can see her!

My mother took me to that doctor. I was X-rayed. A bone splinter had lodged itself between my heat and lung . They operated on me the same day.

I went back to find Mrs. Fischer. But there was never anyone by that name registered in Schoellang, Germany.

I still see her every day so clearly in my mind.

Anne Bender, Portland, Oregon

The second story is so long that I will tell it in my next posting. A tale of whistle-blowing and attempted murder. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We have much to be thankful for, knowing we are cared for–somehow–against all reason–even amidst all the suffering and pain of his world. Keep a high heart. Stay well.